Paxton/Brewer

Paxton had been due to earn salaries of $925K in 2012 ($1.125M cap) and $940K in 2013 ($1.14M cap); his release will save Denver $725K against the 2012 cap and $1.125M off the 2013 salary cap.

Undrafted rookie Aaron Brewer will assume the long-snapping duties and join fellow San Diego State alum Ronnie Hillman on the roster. During the Broncos' first two preseason games, Brewer had been the primary snapper, handling that responsibility on four extra points, one field-goal attempt (a miss), and eight punts. He did not appear in yesterday's game against the 49ers.

Paxton first arrived in Denver as a strangely controversial signing, and a harbinger of things to come during Josh McDaniels's ill-fated and tumultuous tenure at Dove Valley. McDaniels brought Paxton along from New England, where he had played for nine seasons, signing him to a five-year, $5.38M contract. To make room for Paxton, the new coach released popular Broncos snapper Mike Leach.

Paxton's deal was for some reason portrayed as an exorbitant one, even if it put him in line with other veteran long snappers around the league. The Sacramento State alum was next heard from this past January, when he elected to miss the Broncos' playoff game against the Patriots to attend to his wife, then pregnant with twins.

While the Paxton/Leach swap had not had much of a financial impact, the Brewer/Paxton one will - the minimum salaries Brewer will surely be paid amount only to $390K in 2012 and $480K in 2013 - in total, less than Paxton would have made in either season.

Other players

Coffey, Miller, Remmers, and Wuebbels had been signed as rookie free agents following April's draft, while Obiozor and Robinson had been signed to future contracts in January. Dell was signed as an undrafted rookie in 2011, but spent the season on Injured Reserve.

Sylvester was on Denver's practice squad for much of 2011 and was promoted for the final game of the regular season following an injury to Spencer Larsen, who was released today by the Patriots. Larsen had signed with New England as a free agent this offseason.

Omon spent the latter part of 2011 on Denver's practice squad and signed a future contract with the team in January.

Perkins, an ex-CU Buff, was signed early in camp following the knee injury to Quinton Carter, while Kenney was claimed off waivers from Seattle on August 1.

Earlier in the day, the Broncos placed DE Jason Hunter on injured reserve due to a torn triceps. Hunter joins RB Mario Fannin and WR D'Andre Goodwin on IR; Joshua Moore was waived from IR this weekend following an injury settlement.

Future moves

Denver concludes their preseason on Thursday night in Arizona and will need to release 20 more players on Friday, with D.J. Williams and Virgil Green surely headed to the reserve/suspended list. Williams is already facing a six-game ban which may be extended due to his DWAI conviction, while Green is slated to miss four games.

The deadline to reach the 53-man roster limit is 9pm ET on Friday.

Doug is IAOFM’s resident newsman and spelling czar. Follow him on Twitter @IAOFM

ElwayIsGod7 FWIW, there was no eating of salary involved in the release of Leach; he had no guarantees.

Posted by Douglas Lee on 2012-08-28 12:06:39

Yeah, and while I wasn't following Brewer specifically, he did jump out at me. At least twice I remember saying to myself after seeing Brewer make the tackle or nearly make the tackle on special teams "Wow, that LS really wants to make the team." I think the team in the off season had a specific archetype in mind at LS that they thought would improve the ST and they found him. Sounds like we are one player closer to having the roster that Elway and Fox want.

Posted by Broncos777 on 2012-08-28 11:39:42

Lonestar, I would tell you how I really feel, but I don’t think you could handle it. I will say it’s kind of pathetic that you would refer to people who disagree with you as “bitter small minded ass clowns” to defend the likes of Josh McDaniels. Hopefully, you can elevate your level of discourse in the future. I understand you’re a Texan, so I’ll keep my expectations modest. Maybe you hadn’t climbed off the Cowboy bandwagon by 1997, but most Bronco fans were very grateful to Mike Shanahan for the back to back Super Bowl victories. You never know with people, though. Shanahan helped transform Jake Plummer from an NFL punchline into a winning quarterback and Jake still hasn’t stopped sucking his thumb about it.

I don’t know why you brought up Shanahan anyway. Why not simply make a case for McDaniels? I can tell you this much, Shanahan never had a Bronco team put up an NFL worst mark of 5-17 or had a Bronco team get outscored by 127 points in a season. No Shanahan team ever laid down to the Raiders at home. You didn’t see Champ Bailey and a group of veterans march into Bowlen’s office and run him out of town. Maybe it was time for Shanahan to go, but to say you prefer McDaniels to Shanahan is like saying, “hey, this Dom Perignon is flat, I think I’ll chug a glass of dog bile instead”.

Posted by Yahmule on 2012-08-28 11:26:58

It was a joke because Leach hadn't made a bad snap in 5 or 6 yrs, and had a yr left on his contract. So instead of honoring the contract of a popular player in the locker room, your boy Josh cuts him, eats his salary, and brings in yet another yes man from NE at an unnecessarily high price a yr before he should have had to pay it.

Posted by ElwayIsGod7 on 2012-08-28 11:22:31

Doug let's not allow logic to overcome hate.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2012-08-28 07:25:45

Second highest paid LS in terms of what? If you read my original column about this issue, you'll see that Paxton was quite far from being that...

Many trap game ass kickings, even worse dafting for his entire career the even worse decisions on top money UFA most of which were total busts. Lest you forget Mikey's 13% day one retention of rounds 1-3 players over his career in in DEN. 6 of 41 players DaFTED by Mikey were the only ones resigned to a second contract during the rookie contracts were in effect. Not to mention the guys he could not afford to keep because he whiffed on a lots of UFAs and had a ton of dead cap space each year.

And then there were all this late season fades and ass kicking in the playoffs.

So to me even though Josh had some issues he was a breath of fresh air considering that Mikey had won a couple of rings more than a decade before he fubared this team since.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2012-08-28 05:16:24

Glad to hear that the newbie is a good snapper. He has big shoes to fill. Not seeing any of the games I was not aware he had even been on the team. As he was not listed as a LS.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2012-08-28 05:04:16

I think from what I have read it is less thmoney than wanting to get younger. Knowing that at 34 Paxton would not be having but a few more seasons before they had to replace him.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2012-08-28 04:59:52

Why was it a joke. He is the best in the business and leach was due for a new contract that next year. While I was a huge ML fan when others were calling for his release because his position of record was TE. His value as a LS was his real worth.

Paxton raises the bar on LS in DEN and unfortunately for some ass clowns their hate for anything Josh or NE does not allow them to see the value. Josh wanted someone he KNEW he could trust to get the job done not just hope it would and Leach would have cost the same amount when the new contract was due. Sad for them because they have a bitter small mind.

I for one will take the best from any team if it helps mine. It drops the other teams and raises mine. A concept lost on haters.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2012-08-28 04:57:17

I'll take Gaffney over Caldwell any day... twice on Sundays.

Posted by Kell_C on 2012-08-27 22:52:55

Mike Leach was an excellent LS. Paxton's salary in Denver made him the second highest paid LS in the NFL. Basically just another example of McDaniels trying to put his stamp on the team. You can sort of compare McDaniels tenure to the attitude displayed by many of the worst Roman emperors. He was going to show everybody he was in charge by acting like he was in charge. In other words, doing whatever the hell he pleased while wearing a self satisfied smirk. At least Paxton actually contributed, unlike so many other McDaniels acquisitions.

Pats Mega-bust Laurence Maroney for a 4th rounder. Brady Quinn for Hillis and a 5th rounder. Trading away a first rounder in a far deeper draft to take Alphonso Smith in the second round. Trading up into round two for Richard Quinn, who was utterly dumbfounded to learn he had been picked on day one. Trading a 2, 3 and 4 to select Tim Tebow, who wasn't projected in round one by anybody, @ 25.

McDaniels made other crap moves and generally conducted himself with the impulse control of a 13 year old. Getting into a pissing match with LB Shaun Phillips and the embarrassing on-field celebration after beating the Patriots. I guess I can cut him some slack for the Patriots celebration since it was straight downhill after that game. Going forward, the Broncos had the worst record in the NFL until they finally put him out of our misery. Thank you, Champ Bailey!

I understand some people defended him when he was here, but McDaniels was an unmitigated disaster in Denver and no amount of spin or revisionism can alter that fact. He was extremely unpopular with most of the players, except me-first assholes like Brandon Lloyd and he completely dismantled one of the most promising offenses in football while actually making the defense worse.

It's wonderful that Paxton made snow angels after beating the Raiders while he was a Patriot. You know what I remember about the Raiders? The McDaniels led Broncos getting their shit pushed 59-14 @ home in a game where Cable mercifully called off the dogs in the 4th quarter.

Posted by Yahmule on 2012-08-27 21:56:27

The official site puts it in a different context; they were looking for a more aggressive defender in coverage. I have to admit that I'd pretty much assumed that snapping ability was of paramount importance and hadn't given any thought to coverage. Just a wild guess -- maybe this in on JDR, who's intent on getting every possible 'defensive oriented' contribution. Other factors, i.e., salary, etc., could have added weight to the decision, too. Also, we've improved dramatically on STs in the last year, so I view the coverage concerns as sincere.

Posted by colinski2 on 2012-08-27 21:48:58

Not saying he's a bad guy or player, but it was a joke the way McD brought him to the team, and any connection to the darkest era in Bronco history being severed is fine with me. When Denver wins with Peyton, I hope there are no more than a handful of players from that era, just on principal.

*I'll make an exception for ED and DT....even blind squirrels find a nut or two...

Posted by ElwayIsGod7 on 2012-08-27 21:23:18

I understand wanting to develop the young guys, but Gaff is awfully tempting as the fourth wideout. I don't see Willis as a returner at all, and he hasn't done much in two years to prove he's a quality NFL player. Gaff has done that and more. If only he could return punts.

Posted by Royalwithcheese on 2012-08-27 21:03:55

Really, ElwayIsGod7? Paxton was fantastic as Denver's long snapper. The guy is all class, too. He went out of his way to thank Broncos' fans and the organization for the opportunity to play here. Plus, the charity work he does for disabled individuals is exemplary.

Posted by RSH, Esq. on 2012-08-27 20:55:49

FWIW, Vic Lombardi tweeted last night, and has mentioned on various broadcasts the past two days, that Knowshon Moreno is a lock to make the Broncos' final roster.

Posted by RSH, Esq. on 2012-08-27 20:54:18

Really, Chad? Paxton was fantastic as Denver's long snapper. The guy is all class, too. He went out of his way to thank Broncos' fans and the organization for the opportunity to play here. Plus, the charity work he does for disabled individuals is exemplary.

Posted by RSH, Esq. on 2012-08-27 20:53:12

Brewer had 15 tackles in 50 games as an Aztec. Sounds like he does more than just snap.

Posted by Boz on 2012-08-27 20:36:55

A few months ago, he said he'd love to come back to play for Peyton if the opportunity arose. Not really our VP of EO's M.O. though -- he wants the young guys to develop. We already have the obligatory greybeard in the Slot Machine.

Posted by broncosmontana on 2012-08-27 20:36:23

PFT said Larsen was placed on IR.

Posted by drewthorn on 2012-08-27 19:36:24

Dallas cut OT Levy Adcock who looked like a pretty good RT prospect and someone Denver was supposedly interested in going into the draft. I don't know if that is all true, but he might be a player that they target.

They might be interested in Roscoe Parrish or Quan Crosby if they are looking for a returner.

Gaffney of course did pretty well for us as a WR, but I doubt that he is an upgrade over Willis at this point.

I am really surprised Larsen got cut. Gronk knows the offense and seems OK, but I wonder if Larsen would be an upgrade. I have always been a bit of a Larsen fan. One thing is for sure, McCoy knows them both well enough that we will keep the best one.

At first blush that is who jumped out to me.

Posted by Broncos777 on 2012-08-27 19:27:40

I actually remember thinking during one of the games, after seeing Brewer snap, that they were going to flinch when they cut him. Every snap I saw was quick and accurate. I was surprised when they brought him in, with the general satisfaction with Paxton, but now I think they saw a chance to prepare for the future. Doubt that Paxton's salary would have been an issue if Brewer couldn't snap the ball.

Posted by ivanthenotsobad on 2012-08-27 19:27:35

Jabber Gaffney, anyone?

Posted by drewthorn on 2012-08-27 18:58:24

Updated story again, cap figures had been incorrect. Paxton's 2012 and 2013 salaries were actually higher than I'd originally written, because 2011 CBA lifted minimum salaries of pre-existing deals. Net net, the Broncos are saving a tiny bit more than I first wrote.

Posted by Douglas Lee on 2012-08-27 18:36:12

Nope. So he was a former Patriot who got a chunk of change from McD. The man was hardly trash. He and Leach were two of the top three at their position at the time.

Posted by broncosmontana on 2012-08-27 18:29:42

From the moment I saw Paxton making snow angels when the Pats beat the Raiders in the AFC Championship en route to their first superbowl victory, I loved the guy. I was excited we got him as a Bronco, the McDaniels regime notwithstanding. It was a little odd how we cut Leach to make room for him, and that, basically, three high profile snappers rotated teams as a result. But if you make snow angels when beating the Raiders, you're a Bronco waiting to happen. :)

Posted by broncosmontana on 2012-08-27 18:25:57

It wasn't a surprise to me. I'd been expecting it since they brought in Brewer. Makes sense.

Posted by Alan Smithee on 2012-08-27 18:22:49

Guess you need to be more open minded. He was paid about average for NFL LS..

He is one of the best. Let's hope the newbie does not choke a few times when we need it .

Paxton did not..

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2012-08-27 18:21:36

I think you need to let OJ go. Julius hasn't shown anything this preseason (I forget at times that he is on the team) and we will effectively be going with 3 TE's to start the season with Green suspended. I don't see anyone else picking up OJ at this point.

Posted by Bronco_JJ on 2012-08-27 18:08:03

Lonnie Paxton = McDaniels Trash. Good Riddance.

Posted by ElwayIsGod7 on 2012-08-27 17:48:47

Seriously dude let it go, was Paxton really a drop off from what Leach was doing for the team before McD? I'm not going to waste my time checking but I suspect that what Paxton, a vet LS, was earning and what he did for the team on the field was more or less what Leach, another vet LS would have earned and would have done on the field. Pretty cheap to use a LS argument as another shot at McD.

Posted by Matt Killner on 2012-08-27 17:46:14

Is it too soon to bail on the Julius Thomas project? Normally I'd say "Yes," but Ingram looks like a far better player at this point.

Posted by Xtreme212000 on 2012-08-27 17:17:43

In addition to the high salary of Paxton, which they might have tried to renegotiate, he's 34 years old. Elway has talked about getting the team filled with younger, talented players. This is one more. Age and salary are good reasons. I wish him nothing but well - he did a great job for Denver. If he catches on with another team, more power to him

My last cut came down to Knowshon and Steve Johnson. I decided Knowshon because RBs is the most injury prone position and the Broncos probably couldn't find a replacement as talented as Knowshon when one of the RBs get injured.

Posted by sleepyteak on 2012-08-27 16:34:05

FYI, just updated the story once more.

Posted by Douglas Lee on 2012-08-27 16:33:52

Not really.

Posted by Myron Giddings Jr on 2012-08-27 16:19:18

McD f-ed up paying Paxton so much coin to snap special teams. Bye bye yoke of McD.

Posted by Chad N Jensen on 2012-08-27 16:02:11

Always saw Paxton downfield around the ball if not making the tackle on punts.

I remember seeing a quote by the punter at the time when he came to us. "the first thing he asked me was where do you like the ball? From that point on it was never more than 6" off of where I told him!"

Iirc he had one bad snap for a FG but other than that he had a perfect record.

Not sure why he was cut unless it was only money. As everything I had heard was positive about him.

Posted by Lonestar47 on 2012-08-27 15:58:18

I never really noticed who was doing the long snapping duties throughout the season, but I guess Brewer had been doing a fair amount and the coaches figured he was good enough to allow for Paxton to be let go. Guess we'll see if that move works out -- I can easily see Paxton catching on somewhere else, though.

Posted by Bob on 2012-08-27 15:52:27

Yep it is indeed Aaron Brewer, PostBroncos just tweeted that, too. Guess they're pretty high on him. Cost or not, snapper is an under appreciated position imho so hopefully Brewer is good.

Posted by underdog on 2012-08-27 15:35:54

Only good thing about the cuts is that maybe we'll find a useful body out there for some depth...but I feel sorry for the guys who get cut.

Posted by AlexXSmith on 2012-08-27 15:34:09

Aaron Brewer is list on the team as a long snapper as well. I believe he's #48. Perhaps the Broncos objected to paying a man 1 million dollars to snap for field goals, extra points, and punts.

Posted by RockyMtnThunder on 2012-08-27 15:28:59

It confuses me. Long snappers are not usually guys you let go once you find one. Unless they think someone else on the team can do it? I remember seeing Austin Sylvester practicing a few times but he was cut too.

Posted by Myron Giddings Jr on 2012-08-27 15:26:16

That sucks about Hunter...could there be a trade somewhere in the works for some more defensive depth?

Posted by Ron Weaver on 2012-08-27 15:15:52

Is Paxton being waived a surprise? I'm out of the loop on Broncos snappers this year so who is doing the snapping instead? He was always a good one, I wish him the best.Omon was also waived. (Not a surprise to me.)http://www.denverbroncos.com/n...

Posted by underdog on 2012-08-27 15:14:39

I'm very much looking forward to seeing today's cuts. Obviously, I hate that anyone has to go, but it should start to give us a better idea of the major battles heading into the final preseason game.